General News
1 July, 2024
Celebrating 150 years of rail history in the district
From visitors having to “wade through the mud” to get to the station to polished concrete and designed tiles now adorning the entrance, a lot has changed since the first train arrived in Maryborough on Tuesday, July 7, 1874. That rich history is...
From visitors having to “wade through the mud” to get to the station to polished concrete and designed tiles now adorning the entrance, a lot has changed since the first train arrived in Maryborough on Tuesday, July 7, 1874.
That rich history is now being celebrated.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of rail in Maryborough, the Central Goldfields Shire Council is hosting a free celebration this Sunday.
The event aims to provide a glimpse of 1874 — with the program including a special ‘royal’ guest’s arrival by train, vintage games like croquet, a historic photography exhibition, station tours and music.
According to Central Goldfields Shire councillor Geoff Lovett, the anniversary serves as a great reminder of our local rail history.
“In many ways it is unbelievable to think that the first trains arrived here 150 years ago, and that was really a sign that Maryborough had started to establish itself,” he said.
“I have some wonderful memories of the railway, I still remember when I was a student at the Maryborough Tech School which was across the road in the early 1960s there used to be a sprinter train that used to run 20 times a day between Maryborough and Castlemaine.
“As these various milestones are reached, it is very important for the public to acknowledge them and become aware of the history it holds.
“Everybody knows Maryborough for our magnificent railway station and I just hope that the people come up and celebrate this most important milestone.”
The 150 Years of Rail event on Sunday, July 7, at the Maryborough Railway Station commences at 10.30 am. Entry is free and residents are encouraged to attend in period costumes.
A Look Back in Time
“Maryborough’s famous station” The Advertiser explained on July 5, 1974, “the pride of the service and the envy of many centres claiming far greater importance”, was not always “the pretentious building that it is today, nor in exactly the same position”.
Discussions surrounding a railway station in Maryborough started in 1872, yet fierce local debate delayed its implementation for nearly two years.
Excerpts from The Advertiser of the day, stated that in October, 1872 “a poll was taken, the official recorded result of which was 236 votes for the central or Nolan Street site and eight against it”.
Despite the results, the government was undeterred, preferring a station north of Tuaggra Street.
A compromise was made in 1873 where the station would be placed south of Tuaggra Street and as near as Nolan Street as possible.
The original railway station was incomplete on Tuesday, July 7, 1874, when the first rail service from Melbourne to Maryborough occurred following the completion of the Newstead to Maryborough line, linking the town to Castlemaine.
The Advertiser reported on July 8 that “the railway from Castlemaine to Maryborough was opened for passenger traffic yesterday in a very quiet and melancholy fashion. In consequence of the unfinished state of the railway station”.
The article also stated that “a few people thought it worth their while to wade through the mud to the station to see the first official train move off”.
When the train did arrive “at about 9.30 [am], the No. 2 engine, with two carriages and break [sic] van, started with 52 passengers” with “some enthusiastic individuals [firing] pistols off out of the carriage windows”.
The journey between Melbourne and Maryborough at the time was estimated to take over five hours.
Following the historic event,other rail services started to take shape — with Maryborough to Dunolly, Clunes to Maryborough, and Maryborough to Avoca services running subsequently.
Eventually, the original station was completed in 1874 and cost approximately £3700 (pounds), nearly $670,000 today.
It is believed the brick complex contained a station master’s residence, general waiting, refreshment and lamp rooms as well as verandahs and quarters.
However, only two years later, according to The Advertiser “the expansion of the gold mining industry and the development of the rural areas served by Maryborough rendered the original premises inadequate for the economical and efficient working of such an important station, and new and larger buildings became essential”.
Criticisms against the complex continued to mount with The Advertiser writing on November 1, 1876 that “the difficulty of finding a way about the platform or to the office is unbearable”.
The old station was gradually demolished and construction of the new station as we know it today started in 1890 and was completed in 1891 and cost £21,984, nearly $4.5 million today.
On Wednesday, August 16, 1967, the Maryborough rail line officially transformed following the elimination of the Tuaggra Street level crossing and the opening of the underpass.
An article from The Advertiser on August 18, 1967 said “the underpass had been completed at an overall cost of about $520,000” approximately $8.1 million today and “well below the original very rough estimate of about $800,000”.
A Century On...
In 1974, 100 years after the first rail service The Advertiser wrote an article for its local centenary celebration, stating that a “crowd of over 1500 people” attended the affair to see special train services, a combined band from Maryborough High and Technical Schools and a commemorative stone laid in front of the station, which remains rooted in the same spot even now.
For 150 years, the Maryborough rail service has provided vivid memories for generations and currently provides a central hub for travel, tourism and information in the town.
In the words of chairman of the Victorian Railways Board in 1976, Mr A. G. Gibbs in The Advertiser, the station is the “most magnificent edifice” alongside a railway line in Australia “and you should be proud of it”.
A statement that still rings true to this day.
